Qobuz: Coming to America

Move over Tidal. Qobuz (pronounced “ko-buzz”) is coming to the States this fall, armed with a 2-million-track arsenal of hi-res music and a web portal that makes Tidal’s slick homepage seem confined. We checked in with AV industry veteran David Solomon, newly appointed Chief High-Res Evangelist for Qobuz, to learn more about the music service and its unusual name.

S&V: Let’s start with some background on Qobuz, a music streaming/download service many Americans have heard of but don’t know much about. Can you provide an overview? David Solomon: Sure, and thank you for the interest. Qobuz, is a high-resolution hybrid streaming and download service from France. There will be several levels of service and we’re planning a soft launch at CEDIA Expo in September and coming full force as the official streaming partner at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in October. We feature over 130,000 albums (about 2 million tracks) in high resolution available for streaming and download. This is on top of the 40 million 16-bit/44-kHz full resolution cuts.

S&V: Why Qobuz? What’s the story behind the unusual name? DS: The name Qobuz — pronounced “ko-buzz” — represents the extraordinary power of music. Qobuz is an ancient Central Asian two-stringed instrument with horsehair strings that resonate in a leather cavity. The name is derived from a sacred Kazakh instrument, owned and played by spiritual shamans. According to legends, the Qobuz and its music could banish evil spirits, sicknesses, and death.

I personally love the name, and what it represents. With Qobuz, it is all about the music, but if you want to banish a few evil spirits and maybe live a little longer at the same time, you might want to sign up sooner than later.

S&V: The company has been around since 2007. Why did you wait so long to bring the service to the U.S.? DS: Like most streaming services, Qobuz has had ups and downs, but in 2015, it was bought by Xandrie, a very solid French company, which owns a wide range of other companies in the entertainment and technology sector. Xandrie president Denis Thebaud is totally committed to Qobuz and the goal of bringing the world high-resolution music.

S&V: What differentiates Qobuz from other music providers, especially Tidal? DS: Qobuz, is more like Apple Music, if it were high-resolution. You can stream and download music. Unlike Apple and Tidal, Qobuz will be the first streaming platform in North America that offers true high-resolution music, up to 24/192. There’s no need for a special DAC or server. Qobuz “unfolds” resolutions from 16/44 to 24/192 on any computer or capable device from FLAC files.

Qobuz is also the first hybrid service that combines the best of both worlds: high-resolution streaming and download. Members of our top tier, Sublime+, can buy and download high-resolution tracks for about the same price as an MP3 on iTunes.

The library is comparable with the competition and growing constantly. Qobuz also has the largest collection of 24-bit high-resolution tracks anywhere, including major artists in every genre.

Qobuz recently hired music-industry veteran Yann Miossec — who was VP of Warner Music France for 12 years — as CEO. Denis and Yann are excited to launch Qobuz in North America as well as actually support high-end manufacturers, press, stores, and the high-end community. When they hired me to do just that, I knew this wasn’t just idle conversation.

S&V: If you had to single out one attribute that really sets Qobuz apart from other streaming/download services, what would it be? DS: Aside from the obvious sound quality, we have a great emphasis on editorial content with thousands of digital booklets written specifically for the deep music lover and those who want to learn more about the music.

S&V: An impressive list! If we look at Qobuz’s customer base, what’s the breakdown between streaming and downloading, and what’s the trend moving forward? DS: It’s currently about 60 percent streaming, 40 percent download in our other markets. It will be interesting to see how the U.S. market compares in a few months. With hi-res downloads costing so little, I think it will be somewhat close.

S&V: What’s your take on hi-res audio? How does Qobuz define it and why is it important? DS: I continue to be thrilled with the direction of music consumption. Having millions of songs in full or high-resolution at my fingertips is a dream come true. Just a few short years ago, we were at 128Kbps, then 320Kbps, then full CD quality, and now studio-quality files, up to 24/192 resolution. Seeing this technology unfold and improve to this level makes me proud to be a part of the process.

S&V: What’s in store for the future? Any upcoming plans you can talk about? DS: There’ll be really exciting features on the platform from day one. I can’t say more right now, but stay tuned for some major announcements before launch.

Tidal has about 110,000 MQA tracks. Qobuz has 2 million Hi-Res tracks. Wikipedia says Tidal has 48.5 million tracks overall, so Qobuz is closing in there too, but my main interest is Hi-Res. I subscribe to both.

My question, which I think S&V should've asked is about the download option- Is this similar to being able to download your Spotify playlists? or is it actual Hi-Res. standalone files that you can play anytime, even after you no longer have a subscription? If the former, pass, if the latter, sign me up!

You can download Tidal streaming content only to a mobile device. If you want the very best sound at home you want to play stored files, not internet streams, from a top quality device , not a portable. Moreover, your free Tidal downloads are limited because some music is only available as a download and not available for streaming.